World's Most Dangerous Roads - Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's one of the world's last lawless lands lying 150 kilometres north of Australia the town of leh is the economic capital of the country here it more commonly goes by the name pothole city it's a sorry sight with its battered roads it's packed mini buses and it's extreme levels of poverty in the streets uncertainty reigns and the police are ineffective trying to keep law and order the locals call upon private security companies these guards are not allowed to carry firearms only bows and arrows when they do step in they don't do it delicately Papua New Guinea has one of the highest crime rates on the planet in this warehouse behind high walls Kevin a highway driver carefully checks his truck in Papua New Guinea a simple breakdown could have drastic consequences well before each journey I checked that my tires aren't worn out because if I ever have to change them due to a puncture the criminals can use the opportunity to attack me bands of looters who want to get their hands on his cargo of pasta rice and other products these staples are expensive in Papua New Guinea come on close up close up where the bandits haven't a care in the world right now everything is ready I don't think we'll have any problems I mean and if it starts to rain it's the beginning of the rainy season on the mountain roads can become very tricky Papua New Guinea is an island half as big as France but with road network that practically does not exist there just 3 main roads that are barely tarmac and yet Road Transport is vital for the country just about everything is imported the merchandise arrives by the boatload in the port at Lane [Music] the containers have been packed in there hundreds before being loaded onto trucks like these vehicles Kevin is taking his one on one of the most dangerous road [Music] it's the Highland highway the highway is merciless 700 kilometers long it crosses wild regions that are unforgiving towards any slick driving a road that wears out the drivers and destroys their machines [Applause] [Music] torrential rains batter the road washing away whole sections [Music] in the highlands the fog banks are a trap for drivers at night the highway bandits fleece travelers off the highway our slopes that are practically impossible to scale they're not many drivers willing to take on this road and because of this companies are ready to pay them handsomely Kevin earns equivalent of 1200 euros a month four times the wage of a teacher his employer also houses him with a beautiful house in an enviable district where he lives with his wife and four children I just see them once a week I spend the rest of my life on the highway most of the drivers do their work without ever thinking of their wives but my husband he takes care of us when he's on the road he calls us regularly to find out how we're doing when he gets back he spends time with the kids and he helps me out so I'm happy when he calls he says it's going well thank you Kevin spends over 60 hours a week behind the wheel a daybreak he takes the road towards kundi ah WA a town lost in the middle of the mountains but his journey gets off to a bad start we're left late we should have got going around 3:00 a.m. [Music] the cabin windows are well-protected with metal grills on the highway this is a must we put the long to protect against the people who like to throw rocks on the road sometimes they hit the windscreen or the side windows without this protection the glass would shatter before taking on the mountain Kevin buys his fill of betel nuts the nutsert powerful stimulants he it's about fifty a day it's a way of beating tiredness but it's also a drug that all the drivers are dependent upon we chew betel to stay awake and most importantly to have enough energy to keep on till the end of the road in Papua New Guinea the consumption of baitul is very ceremonial see this is the baitul nut you get the shell off like this next the chewy uses a bit of a creeper and a small sachet of powdered shellfish so we take this and after we mix it with the white powder and then when we chew it it goes all red and that's what helps us keep our eyes open on the highway it's better than alcohol yeah more beer unfortunately though a lot of drivers do drink alcohol causes terrible accidents along the highway as witnessed by these rusty carcasses all along the road but here when a truck flips over if it's not a drama it's an opportunity [Music] two months ago there was an accident here the young creek guys came and they smashed in the container with axes and I stole all the cargo this is an even less cultivated area just fifty years ago the warring tribes lived completely cut off from the rest of the world it's no easy feat to tow these two containers on this road with its twists and turns and it's unfinished sight kevin does all he can to take care of his engine while the road continues to get worse the tarmac sections are becoming increasingly infrequent they're being replaced by battered roads peppered with potholes not yet no not yet what's waiting for us up there is awful we're really gonna be shaken every which way and 1,500 meters above sea level it really starts to get difficult [Music] Oh [Music] at the first mountain pass there's the fog to deal with [Music] you see the road yes yes oh yeah well not really [Music] when this hides everything potholes and the other vehicles on the way down the fog becomes rain and the road becomes extremely slippery silly putty it's sliding so I'm forced to use the engines brake when they're as wet as this the normal breaks are no good at all we're in danger of ending up in the river just below ravine several hundred meters deep with 36 tons pushing him from the back Kevin must negotiate each Bend so he's not carried off the cliff [Music] he's been behind the wheel for eight hours without a break and he's finding it difficult to remain concentrated this is a bad sign a tow truck I should ask if there's a problem what's going on up there can I get through in my truck it's muddy where are you going to the Congo Kongo the way up is slippery okay I'll take care Kongo is the name of this place it's the last stop before kun da WA his final destination when it rains like today it turns into an ice rink the road is poor not just poor it's very poor rainy days it's always like this you can quickly lose control and end up in the scenery now no no no nope impossible anyway to get through press down on the gas and use the most momentum possible unluckily the truck is overloaded if I stop now it'll be hard to get going again I would have to go back down and begin all over again Kevin completes the ascent with his foot on the accelerator we were lucky for now it's over he has just traveled 400 kilometers in ten hours there we go we made it to Cooney our destination the town supermarket I've been exhausted really tired actually paid here his rest will not last long right now I'm going back to back to my home I am wait until they finish unloading and then I'll go back where I left from to lay down there I've got my wife and kids [Music] I'll take care of me because they know what I have to go through on the road all everything about the order yeah the driver sets off for ten more hours of driving in the opposite direction in all he will spend 20 hours behind the wheel of his truck it's nearly midnight and Kevin comes across an obstruction a tree is lying in the middle of the road and around it a men armed with machetes winches villagers we're trying to free up the road so the vehicles can go by because after the heavy rains yesterday this tree fell down if we didn't do this we'd have to wait for the workers from the provinces it could take six to eight hours before they got here of course their work deserves remuneration they are not about to work for free certainly we'll ask for money for cleaning the road so the people will pay us and afterwards they go by kevin is no fool you know in my opinion there are two possibilities they could have either cut down the tree themselves or any way to dog to check it's hard to believe that this tree fell down on its own and once the road is clear the gang shows its true colors the racket is under way [Applause] okay ironically the tree that they took so much trouble to remove now serves as the toll booth barrier become the police stay cool guys luckily for the road clear as the policemen don't seem to want to kick up a fuss look I speak to the villagers and if they ask for money we'll tell them it is not to charge too much under two euros would be good if the police are turning a blind eye it's because above all they want to avoid things getting out of hand tonight no one has started in on the passengers so for them it's only a minor incident yeah and at the same time we're not asking for a lot 95 euros and we don't rape women like they do in LA but the authorities end up by leaving the extortion continues after three-hour wait it's finally Kevin's turn I've just got two euros if they take them great if not I'll sleep here how much you got two euros that's good hand it over kevin is relieved he won't have to sleep on the road and he didn't even have to argue they told me you'd go through because we know you but what they know best is the company for which this driver works here even the bandits avoid scamming the Green TNA trucks an organization known and respected all over the region the boss is a French boy jihad Philippe he's been living in Papua New Guinea for over 20 years and has made his fortune thanks to the Highway mecanim in the local dialect this means the Lord or the landowner here in kun da WA all the green shops about half of all the stores belong to him in just a few years gerard opened a bakery and also butchers and then the town's first cafe [Music] and since then the neverending ballet of the trucks provides the rhythm of life in kun da WA with a road as unreliable as the Highland Highway it's always a good idea to stock up really stock up which everything depends on Road Transport everything comes down the Highland high waves of the motorway transport wasn't there everything would shut down in the rainy season when there are landslides the road could be closed for three days four days or as long as a week we had a huge landslide here two years ago the road was shut down for a month Gerard doesn't restrict himself to the small town of [ __ ] Jawa he supplies the entire region and it's 300 thousand inhabitants [Music] when the businessman walks through the market is no longer astonished to find his buns gracing the market stands [Music] Gerald's greatest successes his supermarket before has such a thing being seen in this isolated place the Papua New Guineans have discovered consumer society and they want more this is good for Jarrod's business which never gets a moment's rest you've got two empty containers at the warehouse huh hey you you sleep oh you're drunk in the back room young women count the takings of the last few days here is what Jared's seven businesses have brought in could be as much as a million or one and a half million ballpark figure we transported ourselves the Karla q is there a bit of tension when you do that we take security measures ourselves we change our routine we don't always do the same thing we keep our eyes open I'm in charge if we want God knows you're there but keeping one's eyes open is often not enough creeper we get ready when we go down there Gerard keeps his semi-automatic pistol on him loaded and ready to shoot the destinations the town's only bank the journey takes only a few minutes but letting one's guard down is out of the question Russell not off you have to keep a good eye out behind in front to the right to your left looking at anything suspicious and off we go see our gears just be sure young you are it's the signal it's necessary to move quickly the money is put in a safe place as soon as possible the annual TNA turnover is close to 30 million euros thanks supermarkets roads happier New Guinea is changing even in the most remote areas here in green a it's a big day in celebrating the arrival of drinking water ministers governor's government officials all have turned out to celebrate the event among them is Gerard [Applause] after the traditional welcoming ceremony the crowd heads off to the main square to inaugurate you mean is very first faucet is entitled to all the honors even has a place to the tribunal if you take good care of your coffee plants you will become rich because coffee is gumminess gold and oil Claire this water supply open [Applause] adventurer has wandered all over the world before making a stop here in the 1990s to become a pilot for 16 years he has flown over the country braving death at the controls of his plane yeah well of who they see come and see this view here it's extraordinary all these places I've flown in them everywhere between all these mountains and every day shouldn't tempt fate though so I reckon 16 years was enough I've buried people who didn't quit it's just a matter of statistics one day something is a bound to happen yeah sure we were cash was Valley V the plane the only recourse for hundreds of isolated villagers in the jungle many pilots have lost their lives here the dead husks of their machines are scattered about like sinister warnings the tropical climate is unpredictable at any moment the meteorological conditions can deteriorate but there always some Daredevils willing to take to the skies of Papua New Guinea and fun there's a young New Zealand oh and has already knots up over 1,000 hours worth of flying above the country this morning however he's hesitant about leaving the clouds come down pretty low and there's a fair bit of rain and low visibility around the place so um just makes it difficult to get around especially when you live in mountainous terrain so this guy here the operations manager he'll make a few phone calls and we'll make a decision from there on it's not a fantastic area to be playing we've got an HF radio over here so we can call all the different strips and get a weather report from them the Papua New Guinean weather forecasting system isn't the best you're gonna play on that as soon as it clears up Antoine takes his chances he is transporting rice biscuits and flour to the people of cane teba it's only 40 minutes flight away but one of the most difficult places to access trying to get out on the ride just in the end of us this is it's bad women the risk is the clouds that clustered together just above the mountains and hide the landscape [Laughter] Kwasi good side crashing [Laughter] there's good visibility below the clouds antwuan winds his way through the mountain crusts it's time to land a tiny far-off strip of land as the kind t-bar runway it rained in the morning and the ground is muddy and slippery at any second the plane could bite the dust [Music] in pain Tebow the arrival of a plane is an important event [Music] we have no other forms of transport it's only a plane we don't have Road services for big taxis or buses or whatever to go up and down he is very removed most of the people here have not experienced going on a vehicle yet they don't know they've never set on a seat of a car or bus there's certainly no hospital here there's just Sammy the health worker for the whole region when someone is seriously injured or sick if it's an emergency and the person might die we bring them to can t be the only place a plane can land a couple the patient is here because the patient now if the plane is late the patient will die a sick person also needs to be able to pay for his or her ticket it costs nearly 120 euros here most the locals live with less than 30 euros a year and Farnam he stays for a few minutes another community is waiting for him down below on another mountain [Music] back on the highway just after kun da WA the truck must delivered two construction machines to the oil wells of Moral 300 kilometers further to the west the road stops there right in the middle of the jungle at the wheel is Billy his cargo is precious so he never travels alone bart in the escort car opens up the way road is bad here take care slowly the highway all the drivers know each other another truck Awards Billy via radio that there's a problem further down the road but while the the road is good so what blocked road are you talking about what do you what are they saying is the road damaged a lot yup they say there are problems in Kalpana okay we'll be there in half an hour well we'll see what happened just before Kalpana there is a police car stopping the trucks then Billy finds out what's going on that section of the road is this big bottles it's very used so for bigger trucks to pass through they they can't make it true because that will cause more problem in the even the vehicle get off the road it blocks everything the moment Billy's vehicle will have to stay put other trucks have already popped near to the small roadside cafe it's a windfall for the cafe's proprietors I've got coffee biscuits fatal nuts cigarettes in this place tucked away in the middle of nowhere there are not many opportunities to have fun for the men from the village it's also an opportunity to make a bit of money by watching over the trucks there are many thieves in the area we own this land this is our home we keep watch they come here to steal we'll chop them to bit Bart and Billy leave their truck under a careful watch and go to take stock of the state of the road it's gonna be a [ __ ] to cross that it's highly not for the mini buses but for us there's a muddy trench in the middle of the road but turning back without an official order is out of the question I'm here with the escort card I have to get tomorrow but the road is blocked it's difficult to get through there's a hole and a climb which is much too slippery my truck won't make it okay now now what do we do do we make a u-turn or what what is the strict no u-turn is to be made they must wait until the road is repaired the mini buses filled with passengers are too impatient to wait only the four-wheel-drive vehicles make it true non four-wheel-drive vehicles have to rely on the local villagers strength to get them through forward that's it come on come on straight are you stopping it's gonna get true soon the minibuses misadventures attract the curiosity of the villagers and after 30 minutes it finally makes it [Applause] these vehicles are the only method of communal transport in Papua New Guinea [Applause] but not everyone enjoys the comfort of the minibuses in kun da WA each afternoon the pickup's and besieged the mountain dwellers are finished at the market and now it's time to return to the heights clear off go down the way otherwise it'll run you over the car is packed overloaded in fact however Paul is getting ready to tackle the highest peak of Papua New Guinea mount Wilhelm the young drivers are scared to come here they drive them a highway but I'm here never it's dangerous we need this road to survive so we keep using it he's been making the same journey for over 20 years with his faithful pickup the gearstick moves on its own but that's not because of any high-tech equipment the car is the same as the road it's old and battered the road damages the car the holes the rain the landslides the government does nothing this is a corrupt country you know Papua New Guinea nobody gives a [ __ ] about this road [Music] in the back the atmosphere is surprisingly good [Music] in any case the passengers don't really have a choice [Music] he's only there cuz it's the only way we can make the climb here we have your market and then we go back up [Applause] even when you are used to it certain things still surprise you come on you have to push push come on push if they get stuck the customers have to lend a hand well there come all right come on climb back in get back in we're leaving with all the people in the back Paul is using a lot of petrol as there are no savings to be made he prefers to let his old banger freewheel during the descent we go down the slope if the brakes loosen or we lose a wheel the car will become uncontrollable we could leave the road and end up going over the cliff playing the same game many drivers find themselves at the bottom of the ravine along with all their passengers now look at that we'll have to swing for it but this is no pleasure cruise in the back it was already uncomfortable but at least until now the weather was pleasant at these altitudes the temperatures fall very quickly the chillin settles in with the rain which soaks everything the passengers along with the road [Music] happily the end of the voyage is in sight doesn't it come on then get off the pickup will take three hours to travel just 50 kilometers on each journey Paul brings supplies to the little shop in the village of Gambell e an altitude of two and a half kilometers the locals live off the coffee culture the little money they earn they spend here on pasta rice or cigarettes lower down in the valley we find Billy while waiting for the road to be repaired he has parked his truck in the village tonight he'll sleep amongst his family the kids to cook or not I told the women they're returning from the fields in the market hurry up make us some food my brother it's good to see you my mother all the family members are here I feel surrounded feels really good does it take care of you yeah just like now you can see yes yes they really do look there in the middle of making me something to eat Billy will not be the only one to savor the feast tonight all the neighbors are going to benefit from the charity of the driver who has returned to the fold hey whenever I come back here I give him some money I help them financially everything they want i gibson in order to bring money back home Billy takes many risks tiny his mother worries more than the rest I do worry a lot he goes to lay I stay up and I can't get to sleep I think about all the Rascals the bandits who might kill him now wound him kill him I think about accidents about his truck overturning or falling into a ravine it's only when he calls to tell me that he's arrived safely that I can finally go to sleep I miss our sleep all sorts of there are all sorts of dangers on the road for example if one day another driver from the company knocks someone over on the road gets risky for me people accuse me of being responsible and when they see me they'll attack me with an ax or a machete saying it was you even if I explain to them they'll make me shut up and they'll kill me Papua New Guineans really dangerous being a trucker there's no point in dwelling on the topic and they prefer to tell stories you should have seen this film ate an amazing fighter Rambo takes his massive machine gun climbs on the car and then boom yeah that's how he shoots you better believe it does the job only a few kilometers away the war is far from fictional tribes and clans often fight over women land even villagers in Papua New Guinea tribal wars are traditional only today the fights are a lot bloodier before we fought with Spears bows and arrows when we were injured we could pull them out now we shoot at each other with pistols it's a lot more dangerous before it was a kind of a game now far too many people have died his men have been at war for the past three months their camouflage must raise a smile but there's nothing funny about their weapons in the last few days they've killed a dozen or so people they are 15 also m16s homemade weapons Spears axes and machetes they exchanged the hashish they grow illegally for weapons often provided by smugglers when the enemies arrive I do this the rest of the weapons are homemade all this is local handiwork the caste pipe is made from a truck tow rope it has the same diameter as an m16 bullet we put in the bullet and we close it like that with this we turn it so the barrel as well blocked we shoots the bullet comes out but the pipe stays put looting rapes lynching when these villagers play at being warriors they are capable of extreme violence you know families can't sleep at night anymore when the fighting intensifies the others might come and hunt us out of our village they burn houses they Massacre people he said I want to shoot someone 15 and that person is our cameraman the guy who made the joke in poor taste as high on drugs here people often mix weapons and narcotics these remote areas drivers are instructed never to stop if they accidentally hit a villager or an animal [Music] Billy takes up his journey once again that is going full-throttle he's been stuck for three days and must now make up for lost time I've got to keep an eye on these two rearview mirrors at all times just to make sure that there's no problem with a cargo as soon however he's forced to stop once again [Applause] my spine my testicles I always have to put something underneath my towel to ease them up a bit and with all these potholes it shakes hard up and down I have to protect them you know when the family jewels are bouncing around like that it hurts that's not just the driver who is taking a beating in the back the two machines are shaken about more and more chain slipped got to check it and tighten it we need to stop take a look [Music] it's more serious than expected one of the machines has already moved dangerously it style has shifted 20 or so centimeters the machine's bounced around constantly and the chain is too small it can't take the pressure and the machines are too heavy the chain is broken they have to fix it and tighten it properly Bart and his assistant Paul have to muddle through and tighten the chains as best as they can two hours effort the two men fall upon a lucky solution go too quickly it'll fall that's why we must be sensible and drive very slowly [Music] for just a few kilometers later they must make another emergency stop it's on the center section now the wheel is once more out of line and worse Bart realizes that the other machine has begun to move you saw her at the back yeah it's dangerous there wait pull it make sure you check it regularly yes yes I'll make good use of my mirror Muro and it special Wells are not very far off but at any moment the load could topple the chains have got to hold otherwise we're screwed okay we'll be arriving soon Lily finally reaches the heavily guarded gates of the oil drilling site that is heavy stuff mate you're gonna need a bloody big crane to unload all of that but now Billy's work is over I feel better now everything is safe the journey that should have taken three days has ended up taking over a week [Music] here it's a long way from the highway and it's trucks and the walkers climbed down the mountain in this remote village everyone is gathering that goal committee the most important village in the area it's the 24th of December and nobody wants to miss Christmas Mass the past 60 years Christianity has infiltrated even the most remote areas of Papua New Guinea [Music] father Matthew is leading proceedings Merry Christmas everyone [Music] after three hours of minutes one is allowed to take several liberties with the liturgy like any self-respecting father Christmas this one has not come empty-handed everyone was awaiting his general distribution of lollipops while the Matthew heads about dozen churches in the region and several hundred parishes [Music] the manse comes to an end but for this man of the cloth there's no time to rest I must put water in the tank yep he's getting ready for his big tour of the parishes his main ally in spreading the good word is this old dilapidated car that he pampers prior to each departure no one else dares to go adventuring on the slopes that he takes each week but for his parishioners the priest Braves all the dangers right my friend I'm a priest so as there are people who live on the other side I must go and see them to give the mass to take their confessions my life is devoted to them I must go as he carves out his route hey brother who you father Matthew is not the type to pass unnoticed hey I'm off my way to degree a the slope seems impossible but it's not enough to dissuade this priest there's an expert in handling the terrain I love driving on this road at the wheel father Matthew is jubilant it's almost a sport now and it's exciting at the same time there was a big cliff just below if I miss the road I wouldn't survive it would be curtains for me 20 kilometers just over now later father Matthew finally arrives hardly anybody ever visits here so each of the priests physics is a cause for celebration [Music] [Applause] [Music] my duties towards the families and villagers i'ma show them that I am here the slightest request or complaint whatever it may be I must forward it to the authorities so they could do something about it but it's been a long time since the state has forgotten these remote villages lost in the jungle in Papua New Guinea 80% of the population lives below the poverty line and here father Matthews little white sheep is about the only vehicles the inhabitants will ever see [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Show Me the World

Views: 2,750,066

Rating: 4.6735616 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, roads, National Geographic, waterways, travel, Deadliest Journeys, dangerous roads, most dangerous roads in the world, Papua New Guinea, new guinea

Id: _Gqp9W_-mFE

Length: 51min 14sec (3074 seconds)

Published: Thu May 09 2019